Broken Wings (Dark Legacy #1)

I frowned as he came closer, trying to work out where I’d seen him before but not having any luck. He was cute, in a preppy sort of way. Chocolate brown hair and a light tan, offset by mossy green eyes. The kind of guy I probably would have flirted with if Beck hadn’t just stripped me of all my brain cells.

“Uh, yeah. I guess.” Hunting through my bag, I found my phone and pulled it out. Flipping through my schedule, I located the class I was supposed to be in and groaned. “Economics.” Fucking Catherine Debitch. A quick scan of my other classes showed more of the same. Calculus, finance, debate... The only subject I was excited about on this schedule was English Lit. It made me sad that I wouldn’t have art history or photography, my favorite subjects at my old school, but office chick had made it clear that there was not a single chance of me changing this schedule.

The guy let out a low whistle, reading my schedule over my shoulder. “Guess you must be a smart one, then. Most chicks here just take the easy grades in event planning or sewing or some shit.” He laughed as he said it, and I honestly couldn’t work out if he was telling the truth or talking shit. “Come on, I’ll show you the way to your class.”

Giving him a suspicious side-eye, I shifted my bag higher onto my shoulder and followed as he strode down the marble tiled hall. He didn’t speak again as I hurried along behind him, not until we stopped outside a classroom which overlooked the school parking lot.

“Hey, I should probably thank you,” he said suddenly, blocking the door as I reached for the handle.

“Huh?” I tilted my head, confused. “For what?”

Just as he was about to answer, the door was yanked open from the other side and a middle aged man with a neatly trimmed beard glared at us.

“Miss Deboise?” he enquired, despite clearly already knowing who I was. “Class started almost twenty minutes ago. Next time you’re late, it’ll be detention.”

My jaw dropped. “But it’s my first day!”

“And not off to a great start, are you?” he replied with a sneer, then stepped back to indicate for me to enter the class.

“See you around, new girl,” the cute guy who’d walked me there whispered as I entered the class and the door slammed closed behind me. Suddenly, every damn student in there was staring straight at me, and I awkwardly dodged eye contact with anyone until I found an empty seat near the windows. That nameless guy had been right, there were hardly any girls in the class.

Sighing to myself, I propped my face on my hand and stared out the window as the teacher continued whatever he’d been saying before I arrived. The guy from the hall was crossing the parking lot and tossed a grin in my direction—like he knew I was watching—before opening the door to a cherry red Porsche 911 and sliding behind the wheel.

Mother. Fucker.

I sucked in a sharp breath and sat up straighter. Suddenly it became clear what he was thanking me for: an easy win and eight hundred thousand dollars.





7





The rest of my morning went pretty smoothly—as far as any first day at a new school could. I’d managed to find my way to the rest of my classes on time, and hadn’t yet slipped over in my stupid heels despite the dangerous patches of ice on the outside paths between classes.

All in all, I was feeling not too bad by the time lunch rolled around. Except now, I needed to navigate whatever Ducis Academy passed off as a cafeteria and find Eddy, or I’d be eating alone.

I followed the stream of students—uniformed and not, because apparently only high schoolers wore the uniform—in the direction of the lunch room while nerves mounted in my stomach.

“Fuck it,” I muttered under my breath as the entrance to the dining room came into view. “Worst case I can just eat outside.”

The idea of sitting in the freezing cold to eat was unappealing to say the least, but it was better than doing something stupid like accidently sitting at Beck’s table or tripping and landing face first into a bowl of soup.

Just the idea of all the ways I could humiliate myself made me groan, and I considered whether I actually needed to eat at all.

“Hey,” Eddy called out, waving at me from just inside the dining hall, “Riley! Over here!”

Gritting my teeth, I entered the room and made my way over to the petite blonde. I still couldn’t get past the transformation from the edgy, punk girl that I first met, compared to this prissy princess wearing a damn headband.

“Were you trying to stand me up?” she demanded, propping her hands on her hips in mock outrage. “I can’t imagine why! This school is so welcoming.” She couldn’t even get through her own sarcastic statement without rolling her eyes, and I grinned.

“Come on, the food is at least good.” She grabbed my unbroken hand and dragged me over to the buffet. The only way to describe the lunch at Ducis Academy: it was like the buffet at a five star luxury hotel. I was so focused on all the incredible edible options on my plate that I barely even noticed where Eddy was leading me—until I sat down.

“What’s little orphan Annie doing at our table?” Brittley, sneered across the table at me. “She doesn’t belong here and you know it, Eddy.”

Eddy snorted a laugh even as my cheeks stained with embarrassment. “Actually, Britt, seeing as she’s a Deboise she has more right than you. After all, didn’t your granddaddy come into his money through a poker game?” Eddy clicked her tongue in a condescending way. “How very passé.”

Brittley’s jaw dropped open, and a small squeak of outrage exited her mouth before she scraped back her chair and stomped off in what could only be considered a temper tantrum.

“Seriously?” Jasper hissed across the table at us. “You know what she’s like about her family’s money.”

Eddy just shrugged and ate a forkful of her pasta. “I know. That’s why I said it.”

Jasper let out a long suffering sigh, looking in the direction Brittley had stormed off, then turned his furious glare on both Eddy and me. “If she doesn’t let me come on her tits this afternoon because she’s too busy crying over what a raging bitch you are, I’m holding you responsible.”

He stood smoothly before stalking off after Brittley. Eddy didn’t seem fazed. She just hummed happily under her breath and ate another bite of pasta while awkward silence fell over the rest of the table. I took the opportunity to look around.

Jasper and Brittley were obviously gone now, but I was surprised to only see Evan further down the table with a pretty redhead in his lap. Dylan and Beck were nowhere to be seen. The other people at the table were all firmly avoiding eye contact with me, and Eddy seemed in no rush to introduce them.

So much for upper class manners.

“I thought your brother and his friends were in college?” I whispered, leaning forward. “Why do they have the same lunch period as us?”

Seriously, why!

Eddy wrinkled her perfect little nose. “God, I don’t even know why they bother to pretend they’re in college. They do what they want. Go to class when they want. And eat lunch when and where they want. There are no rules for them, Riley. Not a single one.”

Her words almost sounded like a warning, and I chose not to reply because my insides were already squirming.